The Honda Civic lineup wouldn’t be complete without two letters: Si. Even while we’re busy getting excited over the fact that the track-worthy Type R is finally coming to America, the Si trim, which originally stood for “sport injection,” has a long, storied history in the United States, and it’s gratifying to know the lineage will continue. Indeed, the tradition returns for the 10th-generation Civic with Honda showing off the Civic Si prototype at the Los Angeles auto show.

The “prototype” billing means that this is just a show car—albeit one that’s close to production—so we don’t have any official numbers on power or performance to report, but it is a highly accurate preview of the final Si coupe and sedan (the Si will not be available in the new hatchback body style). According to Honda, it will be the “fastest, most powerful Si yet,” but contrary to expectation, it will feature a more powerful version of the 1.5-liter turbo four-cylinder from the regular Civic, rather than a 2.0-liter turbo four. Lament the waning days of naturally aspirated engines if you like, but at least the Si still will come equipped only with a short-throw six-speed manual transmission—no CVTs here.

Honda promises ride and handling improvements through a mechanical limited-slip differential, adaptive dampers, and active steering, even though it provided no details on these systems. On the exterior of the coupe, engineers added a Honda Factory Performance (HFP) kit that includes a front splitter and a rear spoiler. The Rallye Red Pearl prototype also shows off a center-mounted exhaust, HFP 19-inch forged aluminum-alloy wheels, and 235/35 performance tires. Civic Si customers will be able to score this prototype’s wheels, tires, and brakes through the HFP program, but the fancy red paint is for the show car only.

Honda has provided a glimpse of the interior, which sports Si-specific red-stitched front sport seats, an aluminum shift knob, aluminum sport pedals, a Dry Metal Carbon instrument panel, and Si logos. The red accents continue on the doors, the steering wheel, and the shifter boot. The car is set to officially launch in early to mid-2017, just ahead of the harder-core, hatchback-only Type R. Needless to say, we can’t wait to get our hands on one.

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